First Meeting
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: Every couple has a story of how they met. Even Mirajane and Laxus. Well, sorta... - Miraxus Week Bonus Prompt: Childhood one-shot, set in Remember Me series.


First Meeting

There were, in fact, many reasons that Laxus hated Natsu. Many. Ranging from his obnoxious tenancies to the fact that, well, he resent the other man was a full slayer (deep down) the options were endless. So it really shouldn't have been a shock when a new one was tacked onto the list.

"Navi's mommy and daddy told us all about how they met," Marin, Laxus' youngest child, told him once as he was reading over the newspaper and trying very hard to just have a calm day. "Daddy."

In response to what she said, at first, Laxus only grunted. She was not one to be ignored, however, as she only kept right up.

"And Locke said that his mommy and daddy met when Mr. Gajeel destroyed the guild." She giggled at that one, for some reason, as Laxus was sure Levy had spun the story differently when she retold it to her son, as to save him the realization that his father, in fact, was a horrible monster.

He should know. Laxus did it with nearly all of his old stories with his kids.

Still, he only grunted. Annoyed a bit now, Marin left behind her toys that she was playing with on the living room floor and came to clamber up onto the couch with him. Shoving his paper away (Laxus wanted to be annoyed, but he thought that Marin looked so much like her Aunt Lisanna when she got annoyed and it was just too cute; er, well, whatever), Marin stared hard at her father.

"When did you meet Mommy?"

Sighing, Laxus said simply, "Not nearly as awesome a story, kid, as the Salamander and the blonde idiot. And definitely not as dramatic as the nut sucker and Levy, but if you really want to know-"

"Daddy."

He dropped his paper completely then, moving to pull her into his lap. She was getting too big for that, but Laxus didn't care. Marin was, honestly, his last baby. Ever. He was going to treat her as such for as long as she would allow him.

"I'm serious, Mar," he told her with a sigh. "It's not too glamorous. We knew each other for years before-"

"Tell me." And she was so demanding for once that Laxus had to glance down at her and make sure that, yes, that was his Marin sitting in his lap. Blinking, he scratched at his head before speaking.

"Well," he began slowly. "We kinda met a long time before everyone else's parents, I guess. You know that Mira's village kicked her out and she and your aunt and uncle ended up at Fairy Tail. And Gramps was the Master, so I was already a part of Fairy Tail and it's really not that great of a story, Mar. I mean, it wasn't, like, love at first sight. Or second sight. Or even the billionth sight. Mira and I have much better stories that I could talk about- Don't give me that look."

She couldn't help it. Slumping back against him, all she felt was disappointed. Everyone else had cute stories. She wanted one too! Like how Mr. Natsu was lookin' for a dragon and ran into Lucy on accident. Or how Locke's parents met when the hall fell down (though if Marin heard the full story, that probably wouldn't be as cute). And Kai, her best friend, said that his parents had grown up together in their fishing village and, to impress his mother, his father had caught a super big fish.

All Laxus did, apparently, was a whole lot of nothing.

"Here, just let me think, huh?" And Laxus was too. Hard. "Maybe Mira and I, uh, well… I think I remember the first time I saw her at the guild. Maybe. I was older than her, by a bit, and she and her siblings came in and I remember sitting at one of the tables, with Freed, and listening to Master explain to some of the others how they needed to join he guild and that he sensed a lot of latent magical energy in your mother and-"

"That," he heard from the hall, "is not the first time we met."

Frowning, Laxus glanced over at the adjoining hallway, from which his wife was walking out.

"What are you talking about, demon?" he asked with a frown. "I mean, I'm not sayin' it went exactly like that, but-"

"We met before I joined the guild," she told him simply, coming over to join them on the couch. "Remember?"

No. Not at all. Marin shifted in his lap then, staring just as inquisitively at her mother as her father was.

Taking his silence as a cue, Mirajane hummed before saying, "We met about three days before we even made it to Magnolia. You don't remember?"

He shook his head slowly. "No. When was this?"

"I just told you, dragon. Three days before-"

"Mirajane-"

"It's really cute," Mira insisted, grinning at Marin, who's eyes lit up real big, just from the thought of having one of those stories for herself, to tell the others about. "It was in another town. Uh, I can't remember which one-" Mira stopped at the sight of her daughter's face falling and said suddenly, "I remember. It was Oshibana."

"Really?" Again, Marin giggled. "What happened?"

"Well, I was with Lisanna and Elfman and, uh, well we were a bit lost. Elf had somehow misplaced the map and I wasn't in a good mood and Lisanna, well, she was always so whiny back then and… So I stopped and asked someone what town we were in."

"From Daddy?" she asked, hopeful.

"No," Mira told her with a grin. "From a vendor. But Daddy was there."

"Really? He was?"

"I was?" Laxus was frowning at his wife then. "Mirajane?"

"Uh-huh." Grinning, she said, "He was buying something to eat and, well, we hadn't eaten in forever and I was out of money. Elfman and Lisanna were off, further away, and didn't hear me because I certainly wouldn't have asked had they been, but I quickly mumbled something about being hungry and that I had no money and he just shoved it at me. The thing he'd just bought. It was some sort of meat on a stick or something. I don't remember. And then he just walked off. And, a few days later, we somehow wound up in Fairy Tail and-"

"You never said anything?" Laxus was frowning heavily then. "And why was I in Oshibana? I don't-"

The front door opening cut him off, but it was just their other daughter, their oldest, Haven, who was being unwillingly followed.

"Marin," she groaned. "You have a guest."

It was Kai, of course, one of the little boy's that Erza had taken in. He was carrying a backpack that was no doubt full of his toys and (possibly) clothes for the next day as he frequently talked Mirajane into letting him spend the night who, in turn, had to talk her husband into it, as Marin had to talk her sister into it (or convince her to go somewhere else) considering they shared a room. And Haven was just plain mean. That was also a big factor.

"Hi, Marin," he called out, waving as she only jumped out of Laxus' lap. It was not the time to be babied. Not at all. "Can I come over?"

"You're already here," she pointed out with a giggle.

"Well, Ravan wouldn't walk me and Haven was going home, so I just came with her."

"You followed me," the older girl complained. "That's what you did."

Maybe. But everyone knew that if Haven didn't want to do something, she'd put an end to it. She could have ditched Kai (it wouldn't have been hard) or even used her magic against him and gotten rid of him. She'd allowed him to tag along for some reason. Laxus liked to think it was because she loved her sister and knew that the two hadn't had a chance to hang out together for a good three days (it was an eternity for them), but part of him wondered if she was just too tired to fight the boy.

"Daddy," Marin was saying then, looking over at him. "Can Kai stay?"

"Well, I sure as hell ain't walkin' him home," the slayer grumbled as Mirajane only giggled. "So I guess he's going to have to."

"Alright!" Kai jumped in the air, that excited by the idea. And glad that he didn't have to find his way back to Erza's. She more or less just let he and his brother have free reign of their time and adventures, but Ravan, his older brother, said that if he got lost one more time, he was going to ban him from even leaving the house.

Which, honestly, the older boy threatened that, oh, every day practically, but Kai always believed him and, honestly, tried his hardest to avoid situations where he might get turned around, though he usually wound up completely and utterly lost three or four times a month. Erza, to combat this, had written her address on cards and shoved them in the pockets of his pants and jackets and such.

Laxus just thought the boys needed more discipline and, considering they were so involved with his daughters (not to mention he was their Master), tried to help with things. The lost problem in particular. Whenever he took Kai and Marin out to eat or to a store, he'd show the boy around and even bought him maps of the city. To no avail, but hey, he was trying.

"Come on." Marin went to grab his hand. "Let's go play outside."

They liked that a lot. And, so long as they stayed in the backyard, Laxus was fine with it. It got Marin out of his hair for a bit. Though it was only about three in the afternoon and he figured that he'd taken the into town for dinner that night. Mira had been working so much recently that they hadn't really had any time with the girls. She had the day off then though and Haven, for the moment, was home, and Marin and Kai were basically always together, so he wouldn't be intruding. It sounded like a swell idea to Laxus.

But first he had some questions for his wife.

"Demon," he began once they were alone, the younger two rushing off to the backyard while Haven, coming from training with a few of the other kids, went to shower.

"Hmmm?"

"Why had you never told me that story before?" he asked as she took to yawning and stretching. It had been such a lazy off day for her. The most she'd done was change clothes. "About us meeting in Obishana-"

"Because it's not true."

"What? Mira-"

"Oh, Lax, honestly." She patted his arm before getting to her feet. Laundry sounded like a good idea in that moment. "That was just to make Marin feel better."

"That's lying."

"And? Everyone else had a story and she wanted one. I think it's cute that they all talk about us."

"You still lied."

"What are you going to do about it, Dreyar?"

Growling, he pushed up after her. "I's thinkin' about taking you out to dinner before, but now that I know you're a liar-"

"You were not."

"Was too."

"Now you're the lair."

"Nope. Still you."

"I made our daughter happy," Mira told him simply, turning around in the hall just to stare at him. "I bet she's out there telling Kai all about it. And besides, Laxus, she'll end up butchering it anyways and it won't matter. So we didn't really care much about one another growing up. It turned out alright, huh? And if it helps Marin to think that we had some sort of cute first meeting story-"

"I," he grumbled softly, standing there before her, "thought that it was plenty...cute."

"Really now?"

Grunt. Then, "Well, I like that it's not overly complex like those other idiots. I spent years just thinking you were strong and respected you for the most part. Then, slowly, we fell in love. Why is that any less likeable or adorable than Gajeel being that crap out of Levy or Natsu being an idiot? Huh? I think it's a way better story. She just wanted to hear about us first meeting. And yeah, it's a little lackluster, but over all? I think it's the best of them all."

They had a moment then and, after being together for over a decade, they had far too little of those in those days, but damn, that one could have been a good one, had they not been reminded that they very much so were in a tiny house with very listless ears.

"That's disgusting."

Laxus growled at the closed bathroom door. "You shut up, Haven. And take your shower!"

"Make me."

"You-"

"Hush, Lax." Mirajane was grinning regardless and only reached out to pat him on the cheek. Because even if they hadn't had some sort of magical first meeting in their childhood or teen years, where their eyes locked and they just knew they were in love (it would have been rather awkward, anyhow, given the age gap), they had so much more than that. They had their distaste turning to respect turning to comradery and slowly, very slowly, love. And it had lasted them well so far. "Haven's just to embarrassed to admit that she was wondering about it too."

"I was not," she complained to them from the other side of the door. Quite honestly, she was only piecing together whatever it was that they were talking about anyhow. "At all."

"Mmmm," Mirajane hummed, taking a step back. "You better go check on the kids, Lax."

"They're just outside."

"I know," she said. "But if they're in the backyard, Kai's probably trying to dig holes again and-"

"I told him to knock that off," Laxus growled, just from the thought. "That little freak is ruining my yard."

"He's not a freak."

"No." That time Haven, still in the bathroom, was in agreement with Laxus. "He's pretty freaky."

"See?' The slayer nodded at the door before turning to head off and stop the inevitable destruction of his land. "How can someone enjoy dirt as much as him?"

Mirajane was giggling and Haven was finally turning on the shower, allowing Laxus to rush off and check on his land. And his baby. But mostly his poor property.

Only, the kids weren't digging or making mud pies or any of those other horrible things that Kai coerced (she wasn't that hard to convince, actually) Marin into doing. Instead, Kai was seated in one of the chairs out there, sipping on a soda that Marin got him, while watching her go around and water her mother's plants that Mirajane kept out there. She liked doing that, using her Water Dragon Slayer magic almost as a sprinkler. Kai had been the one to convince her to, as it was easier for him to use her to water the garden he had at Erza's house than lug that big watering can around.

Through the window over the sink that he was peeking through, Laxus could hear them through the partially cracked window. Or, well, his daughter, as she excitedly spoke to the boy about something.

"-sausage or something. You know, on a stick?"

"Wow. Sausage on a stick." Kai whistled. "This Oshibana sounds like a cool place."

"Kai," she giggled. "We have that here. Or we could, I guess."

"Really? Do you think we could go get some or-"

"You're not listening!"

Well, he was trying to, but she brought up food. Taking a sip of his soda, he let her get back to her story.

Seriously though, they were checking out that sausage on a stick thing. If it was as awesome as it sounded (which how could it not be; it was literally exactly what it sounded like), then he figured he'd be in for a treat.

"And then," Marin continued in a loud voice, still enthused by the tale. Clearly. "Mommy thanked him and he walked away, but a couple of days later, Mommy met him at the Gramps' guild. So see? That's just as good, right? As your story?"

Kai really wasn't one to argue with Marin. About anything. Nodding his head with enthusiasm, he said, "It's a great story!"

"Really?"

"Uh-huh." Sitting up in his chair, Kai said, "Real great. I's on the back of my seat!"

Marin giggled at that, but Kai didn't know why, as to him, he hadn't said anything funny. At all. Maybe Marin didn't know the saying? Hmmm.

Laxus, inside the house, only grinned though and took a step back from the window. Haven? He had to eavesdrop on her. To keep her safe. Marin and Kai though, they were fine. Other than when they were destroying his yard/house/guildhall, they were fine.

Maybe he'd even take them to find some sausage on a stick. Since Kai was so enthralled by it. And maybe try buying another map and studying their surroundings a bit. It would annoy Haven and Mira would only grin through it, but hey. Childhood went so fast, after all. Kai needed to learn Magnolia's layout sooner rather than later. It would soon become embarrassing to admit it baffled him.

And, maybe, Laxus did like the boy more than he wished to admit. Maybe. But only because Marin thought he was so great. Honest.

* * *

 **My final and very late entry for Miraxus week. Went pretty well for me as a whole, I think, as far as all my one-shots went. Didn't mean to get the Remember Me series in their twice, but what can you do? Now that Miraxus week is over though, I'll get back to Accidents and Incidents as well as Closure real soon. I know it's been awhile, but I definitely haven't forgotten about either of them.**


End file.
